←back to thread

How to Use Em Dashes (–), En Dashes (–), and Hyphens (-)

(www.merriam-webster.com)
650 points Stratoscope | 4 comments | 27 Mar 25 20:19 UTC | HN request time: 0.665s | source
1. 867-5309 ◴[27 Mar 25 21:23 UTC] No.43498346[source]▶
minus (US negative) enters the chat..
replies(2): >>43498551 #>>43501963 #
2. crazygringo ◴[27 Mar 25 21:46 UTC] No.43498551[source]▶
Seriously. If you want your − + to match, in terms of crossbar vertical position and width.
replies(1): >>43498613 #
3. culi ◴[27 Mar 25 21:52 UTC] No.43498613[source]▶
For comparison—

− + minus sign

- + hyphen

– + en dash

— + em dash

−+-+–+—

4. perilunar ◴[28 Mar 25 05:50 UTC] No.43501963[source]▶
The correct minus sign looks a lot clearer than a hyphen-minus when printing out negative numbers, especially at small font sizes. I have in the past written code to convert them.